In keeping with your leadership, integrity and global vision for an economy built on renewable and sustainable energy, we trust that you will keep true to your word, leading Vermont and, with us, the nation off fossil fuel dependency for the health of Vermont and the planet. Such change requires the leadership and vision you demonstrate, coupled with voices and support of the people.

For the following reasons, we, the people of Vermont, call on you to withdraw support for the Vermont Gas System's (VGS) Addison County Natural Gas Project (ANGP), the largest fossil fuel infrastructure project proposed in Vermont in nearly 50 years. As you clearly understand, actions for the good of Vermont and the planet are one and the same. We, the undersigned, call on you to "promote safe, renewable sources of energy to fuel our economic growth." 1. The ANGP would not reduce Vermonters’ dependence on fossil fuel. It would only facilitate replacing one fossil fuel for another. 2. VGS sells gas extracted by hydraulic fracturing. While Vermont has banned hydraulic fracturing within its own borders, the ANGP would sharply increase the utilization of fracked gas within Vermont.

3. VGS claims of reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions do not include leakage rates in the extraction, transmission and distribution of natural gas. The GHG effect of methane is 100 times that of CO2 in the first twenty years, and current leakage rates make natural gas a worse choice than either coal or oil. It is not “cleaner.”

4. The ANGP would only reduce Vermont's annual GHG emissions by 0.16%, and this small amount would be offset by the amount of methane leakage in the extraction of the gas. By contrast, weatherization would reduce GHG emissions by a rate 30 times greater than emission reductions for the ANGP and create far more jobs, strengthening the local economy.

5. VGS’s proposed route has Vermonters’ homes situated permanently within the “Potential Impact Radius,” the area within which everything would be destroyed in the event of an accident.

6. The proposed pipeline’s second stage is solely paid for and intended to supply one New York State corporate customer, International Paper (IP). VGS states over 70% of the gas transmitted through the entire pipeline will be consumed by IP. This is not in the interests of Vermont or Vermonters.